Roofing



July 4, 1961 C. W. ATTWOOD ROOFING Filed April 29, 1957 FIG.|.

INVENTOR.

CHARLES W. ATTWOOD pauw-m I ATTORNEYS 2,990,650 ROOFING.

Charles w. Auwbod; 4118 s. Wayne Road, Wayne, Mich.

Filed Apr. 29, 19 57, Ser. No. 655,808 Claims. (Cl. 50-212) 'Thepresentinvention relates to roofing for buildings and more specifically to aform of roofing that is quickly and easily applied.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide mean for quickly. andefiectivelysecuring the :roof covering to the supporting means. I

Another object is to provide securing means, permitting the application.ofthe. .coveringfrom rolls and securing the'latter atfrequentlocations,without the use of nails o'rother means penetrating the,coveringmaterial.

Anothersobject is to provide a roof structure that permits the escape ofany gaseous or vaporous material which may be trapped under theimpervious roofing.

Another objectis a roof which may be quickly, easily and permanentlyrepaired, if repair should become necessary.

Other objects and advantages will readily occur to those skilled in theart upon reference to the following description and the accompanyingdrawings in which FIG. 1 is a plan view, more or less diagrammatic, of aroof supporting frame for a roof of the present construc tion.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken for example on line 22 of FIG. 1, andshowing the roof structure.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the structure of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing a slight modification.

The present invention relates specifically to roofs applicable to andparticularly advantageous with structures such as are shown in my priorapplication Serial No. 481,748, filed January 14, 1955, for BuildingConstruction, and now abandoned.

As described and claimed in said prior application, a structure is builtup of a multiplicity of identical metal channel members fixed togetherin such fashion as to produce a roof supporting portion consisting ofrectangular pyramidal forms some of which are erect and some areinverted and all are so related that each erect pyramid has its slantingedges in common with a slanting edge of an adjacent inverted pyramid.The resulting structure has the rectangular bases of the pyramids inparallel planes connected together by the slanting members forming theedges of the pyramids.

The metal channel members used in this structure are preferably of aform appearing on the market under the name of Unistrut and are metalchannels rectangular in cross section having their side walls turned inat right angles and the edge portions of such turned in walls againturned in at right angles and the edge portions of such turned in wallsagain turned in at right angles and sharpened or double beveled. Thisproduces a rectangular channel member having along one face a slotprovided at its edges with substantial inwardly projecting flanges.

In the structure so produced, the elements constituting the rectangularpyramid bases are so arranged that the slotted face opens outwardly.

As indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawing, the roof frame members arearranged as rectangles which, in the case above referred to, are square,but it should be understood that other rectangular forms may be used ifdesired.

Each of the frame members 10, as mentioned above, shows in cross sectionthe form shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and is arranged with the slot 10Aopening upwardly.

In producing the roof, a panel 12 of substantially rigid material, suchas plywood, asbestos composition board or other material suitable fromthe standpoint of strength and stiffnessjis placed over the rectangularareas 11'. The. panels 12 are of such size as to cover the areas andhave their edges rest upon the frame members 10 without covering theslots 10A.

.The panels 12 are then fixed in place by the batten strips 15 whichconsist of spring metal formed to produce in sectional view asubstantially flat head portion 15A provided with spring tongue portions15B each of which has an outwardly extending rib 150 so located that it:will underlie the edge of a flange 10b ofa member 10 when the strip isinposition. The head portion 15A will extend over and rest upon theedges of two of the panels 12 as shown in FIG. 2.

When the panels 12' and strips '15 are 'in'place, the

exposed upper faces 16 of'the strips 15 are coated with a suitableadhesive, and the cover material 17 is applied and pressed against theadhesive coated batten strips and ad-- along with its protective film16B,

In producing the roof above described, the covering sheet material 17preferred is partially cured neoprene which will adhere very strongly toitself if allowed to, and may be obtained in rolls with one face of thesheet covered with a removable and disposable film to prevent sticking.

In applying the sheet 17, the protective film will be removed and theneoprene pressed against the adhesive coating on the batten strips orupon the neoprene strips 16A after, of course, removing the film 163.

The adhesive 16 is preferably made by dissolving neoprene in a suitablesolvent.

While it is proposed to cause the adherence of the cover 17 only to thebatten strips 15, one or more spots of the adhesive may be applied tothe panels for additional adhesion if desired. However, the cover 17should, for the most part, be left unadhered so that any water-vapor maytravel to the bottom strips and escape down around the edges of thepanels 12.

I claim:

1. Roof structures comprising a frame consisting of metallic memberseach provided with a longitudinal slot in its upper face of less widththan the members, substantially rigid panels having their edges restingon marginal portions of said frame members alongside of said slots,batten strips coacting with said slots fixing said panels in positionsaid batten strips consisting of laterally extending portions overlyingthe edges of said panels and having spring tongues thrust into saidslots and maintaining said batten strips in position and a weatherresistant cover material extending over said panels and batten stripsand cemented only to said strips whereby vapor formed between the panelsand the cover material will not remain trapped in place.

2. Roof structures comprising a rectangular frame consisting of metallicmembers each provided with a longitudinal slot in its upper face of lesswidth than the members, substantially rigid panels having their edgesrestmg on marginal portions of said frame members alongside of saidslots, batten strips coacting with said slots fixing said panels inposition said batten strips consisting of laterally extending portionsoverlying the edges of said panels and having spring tongues thrust intosaid slots and maintaining said batten strips in position and a sheet ofpartially cured neoprene extending over said panels and batten stripsand cemented only to said strips whereby vapor formed between the panelsand the cover material will not remain trapped in place.

3. Roof structures comprising a rectangular frame consisting of metallicmembers each provided with a longitu- Patented July 4, 1961 dinal slotin its upper face of less width than the members, substantially rigidpanels having their edges resting on marginal portions of said framemembers alongsideof said slots, batten strips coacting with said slotsfixing said panels in position said batten strips consisting oflaterally extending portions overlying the edges of said panels andhaving spring tongues thrust into said slots and maintaining said battenstrips in position and a sheet of partially cured neoprene extendingover said panels and batten strips and cemented only to said stripswhereby vapor formed between the panels and the cover material will notremain trapped in place, there being an intermediate layer of saidneoprene between the strips and said sheet.

4. A roof structure comprising a framing member having an uppersupporting surface, panel members having substantially parallel edgesspaced apart and supportingly carried on said framing member supportingsurface, a batten resiliently secured to said framing memberintermediate said panel members and comprising a substantially flatclosure strip covering said panel edges and the space between said paneledges, a layer of adhesive material disposed only on the upper surfaceof said closure strip, and a weather resistant substantiallyair-impervious cover material extending over and carried by said panelsand said batten and secured only to the upper surface of said closurestrip whereby to avoid entrapment in place of vapor bubbles formedbetween the cover material and the panels.

5. A method of constructing roof structures, comprising constructing aframing support, placing roof panels onsaid support, resilientlysecuring batten strips to said support to close the spaces between paneledges and to permit escape of entrapped moisture, applying adhesive onlyto the top surfaces of said batten strips, and covering said panels andbatten strips with a weather resistant cover whereby said cover will besupported by said panels and strips but will be secured only to thebatten strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,840,041 Kellogg Jan. 5, 1932 2,412,401 Helm-Hansen Dec. 10, 19462,754,776 Blaski July 17, 1956 2,815,832 Schwartz Dec. 10, 1957 OTHERREFERENCES Architectural Record, June 1944, pp. 103-107. AmericanBuilder, September 1955, p. 237.

